[Sad trumpet noise]

Well, that sucks. Big Company in Edinburgh won't be making the offer. I guess I didn't do as well as I thought. I got pretty extensive feedback and couldn't really argue with any of it; they picked out what I agreed were my weak points and said they couldn't get past them in their considerations. But they said I was close (in a way that didn't just sound like they were blowing smoke). And that it's not uncommon for people to get in after several attempts, and they encouraged me to try again in six months to a year.

Drat. It's pretty gutting after working hard and getting my hopes up. I felt like I did as well as I could, but I'm still going to sulk a while.

Meanwhile, it sounds like the Cambridge company wants me. Their CTO is calling me in an hour; I don't think there'll be an offer until next week, but I may have to make a decision soon.